by Calculated Risk on 5/18/2024 08:11:00 AM

The key reports this week are April New and Existing Home Sales.

----- Monday, May 20th -----
10:30 AM: Speech, Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson, U.S. Economic Outlook and Housing Price Dynamics, At the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Secondary and Capital Markets Conference, New York, N.Y.

----- Tuesday, May 21st -----
No major economic releases scheduled.

----- Wednesday, May 22nd -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales for April from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The consensus is for 4.18 million SAAR, down from 4.19 million.

The graph shows existing home sales from 1994 through the report last month.

Housing economist Tom Lawler expects the NAR to report sales of 4.23 million SAAR.

During the day: The AIA's Architecture Billings Index for April (a leading indicator for commercial real estate).

2:00 PM: FOMC Minutes, Minutes Meeting of April 30-May 1, 2024

----- Thursday, May 23rd -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 220 thousand initial claims, down from 222 thousand last week.

8:30 AM ET: Chicago Fed National Activity Index for April. This is a composite index of other data.

10:00 AM: New Home Sales for April from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows New Home Sales since 1963. The dashed line is the sales rate for last month.

The consensus is for 680 thousand SAAR, down from 693 thousand SAAR in March.

11:00 AM: the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey for May. 

----- Friday, May 24th -----
8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for April from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 0.6% decrease in durable goods orders.

10:00 AM: University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (Final for May). The consensus is for a reading of 67.4.